


Stuck

by Atinydokii



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Depends on how you look at it, Domestic Violence, Happy Ending, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Mentions of Suicide, Not Beta Read, Paranormal AU, Paranormal Investigators, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts, This is really sad, graphic depictions of suicide, i guess?, like it actually states how each of them killed themselves, no beta we die like men, please read warnings, this is very self indulgent ngl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-07
Packaged: 2020-02-28 04:32:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18749092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atinydokii/pseuds/Atinydokii
Summary: Late at night was when they were most active. At least, that’s when the spirits decided to interact with each other. Four lonely spirits were trapped in the mansion. Mingi had been there the longest. Yeosang wasn’t sure the exact year anymore. Time didn’t really exist to them. He was sure the boy died sometime during the 1950’s. The next additions were a couple, San and Wooyoung, who died around thirty years after Mingi did. Mingi has been alone for so long that when the couple first joined him, apparently they didn’t get along. Of course, they had no choice but to become friends sooner or later. At least acquaintances. Yeosang was the latest member to the fray. He died in the year 2011.





	Stuck

**Author's Note:**

> This fic contains very uncomfortable scenes. Please be advised as you read this and pay attention to the tags!
> 
> Edit: I went back and fix some mistakes but there are still more I'm sure. Also, if anyone is interested, I may post a single shot about how each spirit died. Whether I'll add on to this or make it a series I'm not sure but we will see!

ATEEZ, a well known paranormal investigation group within the paranormal activity community. They had visited many haunted places before, but they weren’t big enough to reach the bigger fish; the places that had the most activity or the worst history. However, once Hongjoong, their appointed “leader”, received an email from a landowner asking his team to take a look at a building they had their eyes set on for a while, well how could they refuse? It was a mansion in the middle of no where on the outskirts of Seoul. There were some paranormal accounts from teenagers who decided to sneak into the property after dark when they knew they weren’t supposed to. Some other teams have gone in but once out, all of their evidence was destroyed or contaminated making it unuseful. Hongjoong has only found this out through research of places nearby. However, it wasn’t _just_ the spiritual activity that drew his attention to the place. It had a dark past as well.

Every time a family moved in, at least one person died. It wasn’t by a mysterious method or by homicide. No, all the victims killed themselves at some point in there stay, causing the family to move out soon after. The mansion had then obtained the name of “Suicide Mansion”, accounting for the 4 deaths that had happened there. The first victim was the youngest son of his family, the next two were lovers who died in each other’s arms, and the last was a student whose father managed to buy the place with the copious amounts of illegal money he obtained. Hongjoong couldn’t find specifics. All he knew was they all committed suicide within six months of their stay.

The leader closed the laptop and pushed his chair away from his desk. With a squeak, he stood from his chair and walked into the living area of the apartment the team shared together. He was pleased to see the other members already there. 

“Boys. You’ll never guess who I got in contact with.” He plopped down on the loveseat next to their oldest member, Seonghwa. He was about to open his mouth before another one of them spoke. 

“Who contacted you, hyung?” Yunho, the tallest member asked with a raised eyebrow. Next to him was Jongho, their youngest member who looked away from the TV to stare at Hongjoong and wait for his answer. 

“Suicide Mansion.”

“What?” The blonde next to him sat up, looking at him in disbelief. Hongjoong only gave a nod as the other two looked at each other to make sure they were hearing the same thing and it wasn’t their imagination. 

“I emailed the landowner a while ago. He finally responded and said he would appreciate it if another team came in and tried to figure out what’s going on. The earliest we can go is next week. We can stay there for a few days if we wish too. Guys, this is huge! We have been trying to get in there forever!” A giant grin was plastered on his face which was very contagious. 

“My god. I can’t believe it… We have to bring our best equipment.” Of course Seonghwa would immediately talk logistics. “We should also do a bit more research and see if we can find out anything else about the victims of the mansion. I know we haven’t been able to find much, but if we can find some more out, it might make it easier to communicate with the spirits there.” All the boys gave a nod in response, agreeing. 

“No one has been successful so far right?” Jongho asked which Hongjoong shook his head in response to. 

“Any evidence they gathered was either destroyed or tampered with to the point that it couldn’t be salvaged. Seonghwa is right, we need to bring our best equipment in case the spirits there try to do the same with us. I refuse to leave there without some evidence.”

After a few more hours of talking and planning, they decided to go sooner rather than later. Within a few days they would be on the way to the mansion to investigate one of the places the group have had their eyes on for a while. Hongjoong made sure to email the landowner back to accept his offer and to tell him as soon as they’d be there, which he got the all clear for. This is it. This would be ATEEZ’s big break!

### 

Late at night was when they were most active. At least, that’s when the spirits decided to interact with each other. Four lonely spirits were trapped in the mansion. Mingi had been there the longest. Yeosang wasn’t sure the exact year anymore. Time didn’t really exist to them. He was sure the boy died sometime during the 1950’s. The next additions were a couple, San and Wooyoung, who died around thirty years after Mingi did. Mingi has been alone for so long that when the couple first joined him, apparently they didn’t get along. Of course, they had no choice but to become friends sooner or later. At least acquaintances. Yeosang was the latest member to the fray. He died in the year 2011. 

Oddly enough, they were all around the same age when they died. In fact, they were all 19 when they passed. One thing none of them ever forgot was how old they were and how they died. That would always be in the back of their head. Not to mention that two of the spirits had physical reminders of it. Mingi and Yeosang perhaps had the least peaceful deaths. It wasn’t something they like talking about. Everyone knew how each other died, but none of them dared to say _why_ they did it. Obviously none of them wanted to live anymore when they decided to end their lives, but they definitely were hoping to be at peace and not stuck in a mansion where people kept bothering them. 

See they had become a family. They protected each other. So when these groups of people with big equipment or some young teenagers came in giggling about how there weren’t any ghost, they made themselves known. They would cause chaos and destroy any equipment that would prove their existence. If no one knew they exist, at some point they would stop right? But they kept coming and coming. 

It bothered San the most. He just wanted to be at peace, sleep eternally. But the damn mansion kept him there and these damn machines that made so much noise wouldn’t let him. Wooyoung would always do the most damage because of this. He loved San even after death. Perhaps they were the only thing that kept each other sane. Wooyoung would destroy the cameras, the recorders, and anything that he knew didn’t belong there. Mingi sometimes helped, but he was more of the type to just scare them off. Usually he took care of the teenagers who came in to get off of the adrenaline of being somewhere they shouldn’t be.

Then there was Yeosang. He was the quietest out of them all. He preferred to stay to himself. He adopted the study, or what used to be the study of the mansion to himself. That’s where he usually was and he usually stayed there. When professionals came in, he would sometimes go out to see what was going on. The big machines fascinated him. But he would only stay for a few minutes before leaving to another part of the mansion where he wasn’t likely to be found. The others usually shoo anyone away from the upper floors, so he wasn’t bothered. 

He had only been a residence for roughly eight years. Needless to say, he wasn’t exactly used to everything yet. Also he was incredibly shy and anti-social. The other’s didn’t blame him though. What if one day, when you thought you would finally be free, you find yourself unable to escape an area and were surrounded by others who had hoped for the same. They just wanted freedom, but freedom never came. Only men and women who wanted to get some video of them moving shit for a few bucks then they’d be on their way. 

His shoulders slumped slightly as he sat against the wall on the steps, fiddling with the jacket he wore on the day of his death. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone come up to him. 

“You okay?” San asked, tilting his head to the side in question as he sat down next to him. 

“If I wasn’t?” Yeosang simply responded, keeping his eyes on his hands fiddling with the zipper. 

“Deep down none of us are.” San only mumbled, resting his head against his head as he kept his eyes on the other. 

“Want to play cards with the rest of us? Mingi finally found the ace of clubs we were missing so we have the full deck again.” He spoke of the deck of cards that apparently Wooyoung found whilst digging around the place before Yeosang got there. He simply shrugged and stood up, motioning for San to lead the way. He did so, with a smile on his face. They made it work. They tried to keep everyone happy, but they wouldn’t be there if they were happy, would they? They wouldn’t have killed themselves if everything was fine.

### 

“Is everything packed up?” Yunho asked whilst setting the last case of luggage into the trunk gently since it held some of their equipment in it. 

“One more.” Hongjoong came out with a briefcase in hand. “This is the newest EMF detector. Don’t let it get broken.” He handed it to Yunho and got into the front drivers seat. Curse the others for being so tall. He always had to adjust the seat after they drove their van. Seonghwa was in the passenger seat, idly looking at his phone while Jongho was in the back, already half asleep. 

“It should take us about an hour and a half to get there.” Hongjoong spoke once Yunho was inside as well. After they all got situated, they pulled out of the driveway and started heading for their destination. There wasn’t much chit chat among them. Anything they said had to do with the investigation. They also tried to keep quiet since Jongho almost immediately fell asleep as soon as the car started. 

“I couldn’t find much. The only thing I found was that the last person in there to die was a young boy. He apparently died right after his father and his mother got into a fight over an affair.” Seonghwa began.

“I thought that guy had many?” Hongjoong raised a curious eyebrow to which Seonghwa nodded. 

“He did. Apparently this one resulted in a huge fight though. The son died while the mother was rushed to the hospital after the… altercation.” Seonghwa swallowed dryly as he finished. 

“How did the boy die?” 

“Hanging” 

It didn’t take long for them to get there. By the time they did, everyone was up and on edge about it. The place was creepy he had to admit. Moss and flora was growing all over the building that seemed like it was rotting. They all stared in awe once parked on the old gravel driveway of the building. 

“It’s even creepier in person.” He heard the youngest mumble to himself, to which no one said anything in return. 

“Let’s go ahead and set up. I want to get started as soon as possible.” Hongjoong unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the van, quickly heading to the back and opening the trunk. One by one the suitcases were brought out before the headed inside.

### 

Their game was almost to an end before they heard the front door freak open. Their eyes widened, looking at each other as they paused. None of their lungs worked, but they still held their non existent breath, as if to stay as quiet as possible. 

“ _Hello?_ ” They barely made out the voice, causing all of them to sigh and for Mingi to drop his hand of cards onto the ground messily. One by one they stood and crept out the hallway to make sure no noise was made. The spirits lined up and looked over the railing where they saw four boys enter with _a lot_ of equipment. Yeosang was sure if he still had a working heart, it would be racing. 

One of them looked around while the others continued to being in more and more luggage. The all concluded that must have been the leader. 

“Damn are they moving in?” Wooyoung asked. Being spirits, they could control whether humans could hear their voices or not, so they had no worry about how loud they were when speaking. 

“I know you asked ironically, but I’ll still say it shouldn’t be possible. The building is no longer for sale… Right?” Mingi turned to the others who simply shrugged. They watched as the leader turned to his crew, a tall blonde, an even taller brunette, and a built man who was only a little taller than the leader. 

“We will break off and do a quick sweep by ourselves before we start anything big.” Their leader spoke. 

“Are you sure Hongjoong?” 

So that was his name.

“Yes. This place is huge. We can cover more ground this way and we will have more time to plan.” Hongjoong said, grabbing a few recorders out of his bag. 

“I’m not too worried about these guys.” San started off, stepping away from the railing of the stairs. “I think we could scare them off easily. Especially if they decide to separate.” They all agreed, though deep down Yeosang still felt nervous. He took one glance at the group downstairs still talking before they all disbanded. They agreed to each stay at a different part of the mansion to try and deter them from getting too far. Yeosang simply went back to the study, pulling out one of the older books he had read multiple times already. He sat on the floor, the book set out in front of him. 

He was lost in his own world as his brown eyes ran across the words on the slightly worn down page. He flipped the page, reading the oh so familiar words. He wasn’t sure how long he had been there, but he could only guess a while since he was brought of of his thoughts by the door knob jiggling, then it opened. 

_Fuck._

### 

The blonde opened the door to the room on the third floor. There were only four including the basement, but the group had decided to go down there together. Seonghwa set off by himself and had gone through almost every room on the floor. As he looked around the room he was in now, he guessed it was a study. 

“Hello?” He began, walking around. “Anyone here?” Unbeknownst to him, there was someone who was quickly trying to back away from the other. In the process, the spirit accidentally knocked over a pile of books that sat near the window. 

“Who is there?” Seonghwa walked closer and Yeosang panicked. He was trapped and worried. “I promise I won’t hurt you. I just want to talk.” For a second, Yeosang thought that if he answered, Wooyoung could just mess with it later and the other would leave him alone. 

Seonghwa was about to leave before he heard a voice that chilled his spine. 

_’Hello.’_

He quickly looked up, eyes wide and honestly stunned. He didn’t expect to actually get an answer. “Who is there?” He paused, holding the recorder out and waiting for an answer. 

The spirit paused, panic setting in. This was such a bad idea. A very very bad idea. 

_’Y-Yeosang.’_ The voice replied back and Seonghwa couldn’t help but smile a little. He was actually hearing a voice. He was communicating with a spirit. 

“Can you reveal yourself to me, Yeosang?” He took a shot in the dark, but was immediately met with a response. 

_’No.’_

“Why not? I promise not to hurt you…” He paused and looked at the recorder. “What if I turned it off?” The blonde did so, stuffing the recorder in his pocket after turning it off. “It’s off. Please?” 

Yeosang considered it. Especially if the recorder was off. This was definitely a bad idea.

In front of Seonghwa, a form began to form. Soon the appearance of a _terrified_ young boy stood in front of him. Well maybe not young. They seemed to be roughly the same age. He had brown hair, brown eyes, and wore a dark red jacket. The spirit seemed normal except he was extremely pale and a dark ring of purple encircled his neck. This must be the spirit who hung himself… 

“My Name is Seonghwa. Thank you for showing yourself to me.” The spirit stayed silent, looking at the other with an intense glare. He watched as the other’s eyes stared at his neck. Yeosang knew what he was looking at. 

_’It was this floor.’_ The investigator looked up with confusion. _’I died on this floor.’_

“I...I’m so sorry… H-How did you do it?” He saw the deceased stiffen. He must be scared. The taller decided to sit on the floor, his hands on his knees to try and show that he was not harmful at all. The spirit pondered before he slid against the wall behind him, sitting down as well. 

_‘I took the bed sheets on my bed, tied them to the post on the stairs and around my neck, then jumped.’_ Yeosang could remember the feeling of the air escaping him, the way he clawed at the sheets in panic. In the end he couldn’t get himself free. His father later showed up with a mistress while his mother was at the hospital and found him hanging, body blue from the lack of oxygen. 

“W-Why? Why did you do it? Was it the mansion? Was-“

A soft laughter escaped the boy. _’The mansion has nothing to do with it. My family was shit. My father didn’t care about anyone but himself. He beat my mom so bad she was in the hospital. I was tired of it. Tired of him sleeping around. I hung myself because I wanted to die. It was my choice. And now I’m stuck here. Is that what you wanted to hear?’_

It was obvious the spirit was starting to get agitated. Seonghwa began to worry that he had pushed too far. He didn’t have the equipment to handle this situation properly by himself. 

_’I wouldn’t trust the other’s to be as kind as I have. We don’t appreciate visitors…’_ Seonghwa looked up to reply but then saw the ghost wasn’t there anymore. For the first time, he took notice that he was sweating, the drops running down his temple. The blonde took a deep breath before standing and walking out of the room. He reached into his pocket to pull out two different recorders. He had said the recorder was off, but he had another one that had been on the entire time. Seonghwa felt slightly bad about it, but shook it off as he went into the other rooms and turning the other recorder on again.

### 

Hongjoong and Jongho had decided to scour the first floor together. They haven’t found much at this point. Mainly because the first floor was so large. Most of the rooms were big and filled with furniture. The mansion had a library on the first floor along with the kitchen and living area. There was one room that Hongjoong was made aware of though. A guest room was at the end of one of the hallways on the first floor. According The the land owner, that was the most active room. That may have been why Hongjoong was very quick to say he would join Jongho who called the first floor. 

They soon came face to face with the door to the guest bedroom. Hongjoong has filled him in about the activity there. It wasn’t violent but very aggressive so they needed to be careful. Hongjoong wiggled the handle before opening the door with a creak. The room was gorgeous. Sure it was littered in dust and cobwebs, but there was a beautiful queen sized bed with gorgeous sheets. There was also a large vanity to the other side. 

As soon as he took a step inside, he knew they weren’t alone. The air was cold, freezing even and heavy. He looked around, then looked to Jongho who had wide eyes. 

“Who is there?” The younger asked and tentatively took a step farther into the room. No response. “We aren’t here to hurt you or anything. We just want to talk.” He sighed after getting no response. That meant it was Hongjoong’s turn. He moved to sit on the edge of the bed, recorder in hand. 

“We know you’re somewhere. Where are you?” All was quiet until a knock was heard from the vanity. The mirror had fogged up and slowly, words were being written on it. 

W E A R E H E R E

Those words were the underlined with the smudge of what seemed to be a finger. 

_We_? “Is there more than one person with us?” The youngest sat next to Hongjoong, watching as the mirror once again fogged up. 

Y E S

This was officially freaking them both out. 

“Will you talk to us?” The brunette hoped the answer would be yes. 

N O

The word stayed there for a minute before it disappeared again. Slowly, another word was beginning to form. This time, the writing seemed to belong to a different person. 

R E C O R D E R

“You want me to turn the recorder off?” The leader asked before turning it off. He saw another word being written underneath. 

B O T H

So they somehow knew he had more than one recorder on him. He sighed, pulling the recorder from his pocket and turned it off. He set them to the side and looked back at the vanity, waiting for some response that never came. 

“Will you reveal yourself to us?” He asked timidly, jumping when suddenly the door slammed shut. Both of their attention turned to it as their heart raced a million beats per second. When they turned back, they were met with the sight of not just one apparition, but two of them. 

They held hands, stayed close to each other. A small smirk appeared on one of their lips, appearing to enjoy this. He had silver hair that gently fell against his forehead, a blue jacket wrapped around him and piercing brown eyes. The other was slimmer, his hair black with red streaks in it. He couldn’t help but notice how sharp his jawline was. He wore a sweater that seemed to be stained near the top with some english word on it that Hongjoong didn’t recognize. Both of them were extremely pale, dark circles around their eyes making them seem exhausted. 

“Who are you?” Jongho was the first to break the silence. The leader wa surprised he could. Never before had they had spirits physically appear in full form before them. It left him speechless. 

_’I’m Wooyoung. This is San.’_ He looked to the other, who seemed extremely uncomfortable. Hongjoong notes how the other spirit would softly squeeze his hand. _’Why are you in our house?’_ Wooyoung’s smirk turned into a frown as his eyes narrowed towards the two on the bed. _’You’re in our room on our bed.’_ That would explain why this room seemed to have the most activity.

“We are just here to speak to you.” The spirit rolled his eyes. “Maybe even help you…”

 _’Help us?’_ For the first time, San spoke. Even the other ghost seemed slightly surprised at that. _’How could you help us?’_

To be honest, Hongjoong hadn’t thought that far. He was sure there was something he could do for them though. 

“Answer a few of my questions first.” He said rather bravely, but quickly regretted it as Wooyoung took a step forward, his eyes narrowing even more. 

_’You’re in no position to be making demands.’_ That was true. He really wasn’t. After all, he was intruding in their home. 

“If you answer our questions, it’ll make it easier for us to help you.” Jongho was quick to add in, earning an unsure gaze from his leader. The two ghosts seemed to look at each other, as if they were communicating with their eyes. 

_’Fine. Ask away.’_ The silver haired boy didn’t seem too thrilled and the other still seemed terrified, but they were finally getting somewhere. 

“How did you die?” Honestly, the spirits were surprised that he went outright with the question. No easing into it huh? Neither of the lovers enjoyed talking about it, but if they wanted their help, they had to answer. 

_’We made a pact when we first got together. A suicide pact. We couldn’t live without each other. One day, we had enough of the world and how they treated us. We both overdosed on sleeping pills. Died right there on that bed.’_

It was sad. Although he guessed it was one of the more peaceful deaths. 

“What do you mean by you had enough of the world?” Jongho leaned forward as if transfixed in a story. 

_’I’m not sure what it’s like now, but back then… Our love was frowned upon. We had been beat, yelled at, had food thrown at us. All because we loved each other.’_ San then continued from Wooyoung.

 _’We didn’t want to live in a world that thought that way. So we decided to leave… Or we tried at least.’_ The spirit looked towards the ground. _’None of us want to be here. We all wanted to escape, only to be trapped here. We can’t move on.’_ A sad smile formed on San’s lips. It was then that Hongjoong knew what had to be done. 

“I’ll get you out of here.”

### 

Mingi knew it was only a matter of time before he were to meet at least one of the investigators. He currently sat in the bathroom, the floor tiled and a single bathtub sitting in the middle. Although it was his place of death, he still found it comforting to stay there. All the other spirits had vague ideas of why they each died, but Mingi never said a word on why he did it. To be truthful, he would never forget. Still, this was a peaceful place for him, where he finally escaped all the pain. He barely remembers the day they moved, but he remembers why. His brother got into a prestigious school that required them to move. But no one cared about Mingi. 

No one cared about the few friends he would lose over the move. No one checked on him while he cried because he was just craving attention. At least that’s what his parents said. They believed that his brother was everything that Mingi wasn’t. They thought that Mingi was just jealous of him, and maybe he was. He couldn’t stand living in the shadows of his sibling anymore though. Even as they found his lifeless body under the water of the bathtub, tinted red from blood, they didn’t seem too concerned. Yeah they were sad, but did they really care? He wasn’t sure. 

The door opening broke him out of his thoughts, eyes glaring up to the intruder. It was the tall one of the group. His eyes were wide to see Mingi already there, appearing before him. His brown eyes raked over his appearance. Brown fluffy hair, bloodshot red eyes, a stained white shirt, and deep scars across his wrists. 

Yunho gulped at the sight. It definitely wasn’t what he was expecting to see when he walked into the old bathroom. 

_’I was wondering when you’d come.’_ The spirit sat up, crossing his legs in front of him. Yunho closed the door behind him, keeping his wide eyes on the other boy. 

“W-who are you? W-what happened?” His eyes returned to the other’s wrist. 

_’I’m Mingi. If you’re asking how I died,’_ he paused and knocked on the bathtub he leaned against, _’I drowned myself.’_

“My God…” Yeah, Mingi used to believe in God too. He watched as the other looked around before slowly sitting on the floor to match his height. “W-Why?”

 _’I don’t see how that’s your concern.’_ He responded rather dryly, narrowing eyes at the still living person in front of him. 

“Are you stuck here?” The taller hesitantly asked, to which he earned a slow nod from the other. “I-Is there anyway I can help?” The spirit laughed. 

_’Who knows. I’ve been here for over sixty years. Frankly, I’ve stopped trying.’_ It was sad to admit, but it was true. He had given up long ago. It caused a frown to appear on the other's lips which for a moment confused him. 

_’Are you saddened by that?’_ Mingi tilted his head to the side with curiosity. Yunho nodded. 

“I’m sure you don’t want to be here… You wouldn’t have done… it if you wanted to be stuck here.” Mingi looked down at his arms, looking at the multiple deep scars that littered his arms. 

_’You’d be right.’_

“M-Maybe we can help!” Yunho quickly looked at him, as if desperate for Mingi to agree that maybe they could. He wasn’t so sure though, so he gave no answer. 

_’I don’t-‘_

“Let us try. I know it’s not just you here… There are others right? A couple and a young teenager?” Mingi only nodded, watching as the other stood up and pausing. 

“L-Let me meet up with the others. We… we will get you out of here.”

### 

Normally, they would meet in the living area of their mansion, but since the investigators decided to take over the area, they decided they would meet in the library. As usual, Wooyoung and San sat next to each other, Yeosang stood to the side against the wall, and Mingi paced around the room. 

“Do you think we can trust them..? Do you really think they could help us escape?” San watched as Mingi’s pace only quickened by his question. 

“I-I don’t know… Three of them mentioned helping us… Yeosang. Did blondie say anything to you?” Yeosang shook his head. 

“I went off on him and disappeared before he could really say anything.” The boy mumbled, rubbing at the bruised ring on his neck. They were really at a loss for words. Never before has an investigation crew or anyone really offered to help them. 

“Could it be so bad to trust them?” Yeosang mumbled to no one in particular. Mingi sighed and finally sat down. 

“We all need to agree. I won’t do anything unless anyone is okay with it. We all need to be on the same page if we decide to go about it like this.”

### 

“We need to help them.” Yunho spoke to the group, standing while the rest looked at him sitting down. “If what you guys said are true and what I experienced, they hate it here. It’s obvious they all died with the intention of leaving this world completely. But they are stuck here and…” God he hated what he was about to say. “They are bothered by people like us. The way they responded… it almost sounded like they were ready for the next person to come and talk to them.” Hongjoong sighed, rubbing his face with his palms.

“Yunho’s right. There has to be some way to help them.” Hongjoong turned to Seonghwa who already seemed very troubled. “Do you have any ideas?”

“My guess is something is in the house that is keeping them here. I think if we can find it and destroy it, it’ll set them free. I’m not sure though. Did you guys see anything when you were looking? Anything ominous?” Every one of them shook their heads. 

“What about the basement?” Jongho pointed out. “We can see if one of them will take us down there?” A small shrug was added on, but it sounded like a good idea. The best idea so far. 

“But how do we call them?” 

_’You don’t need to.’_ They all turned to the door where all four of the ghostly men stood. As a group they looked even… deader. All of them pale and two of them physically injured. Mingi seemed to be the one who spoke. _’We can’t take you down there, though.’_

“Why is that, Mingi?” Yunho used his name so the other’s could identify him as something other than just a ghost. 

_’None of us can go down there. All of us have tried.’_ Wooyoung began, leaving San to finish. 

_’Something forces us away from the basement. We don’t know what it is though.’_ Hongjoong wasn’t sure about anyone else, but that sounded like something that would keep them there as well. He turned to Seonghwa, who was already looking at him. So they had the same idea. He then turned his attention back to the spirits. 

“We will go look. Has no one been down there before?” 

A smirk appeared on a few of their faces. All except Yeosang who stood near the back, quiet. 

_’We usually get them out of here by then.’_ That was honestly something ATEEZ didn’t want to experience. With that, Hongjoong stood from his seat and motioned for them to follow. The soon found themselves in front of the basement door, the four ghosts behind them. 

_’Good luck~'_ Wooyoung teases before receiving an elbow from San. They were cute honestly. Never mind that though. The group turned on their flashlights and opened the door. The air released was old and musty. Hongjoong being in front got the brute of it, causing him to cough and pull his shirt up over his nose before walking farther inside. There was no electricity in the building, so they could only rely on their small flashlights. It barely helped as the basement was huge and packed with what seemed to be old furniture. They all looked around for what felt like hours before Seonghwa called for them. 

“I found something!” Within a minute, they all surrounded him. In his hands was a small jeweled box. In the center was a bright red gem.

“Can you open it?” Jongho tried to get a closer look. Seonghwa handed his flashlight to him before opening the box. Inside was single green gem. Maybe an emerald or something like that. He picked it up with his fingers and carefully looked at it. 

“You brought the scanner down didn’t you?” He asked to Hongjoong who nodded and pulled it out. Seonghwa waved the machine over the stone and immediately it started making noise. 

“I think this is it.” He handed it back to Hongjoong before closing the box. He turned to the other’s, holding it tight. “I suggest we keep looking around, just in case. This could simply just have energy on it.” They all agreed and split up once more to walk around the basement.

### 

The spirits stood quietly outside the door. They were anxious, terrified. What if whatever it was that was down there wasn’t what kept them here? What if it was but they couldn’t do anything about it? Despite passing, they all still had their own worry habits. Mingi’s was pacing, Yeosang bit at his nails, Wooyoung would tap his foot, and San would meddle with his thumbs. All that came to a hault when the basement door opened and the living boys finally arrived. They all stared in silence until the blonde one came out last, holding a jewelry box. The spirit’s eyes widened.

 _’That’s it… I can feel it.’_ Yeosang was the first to walk closer to the blonde who stood still. The moment Yeosang tried to touch it, he was pushed back slightly by an unseen force. So they couldn’t touch it. Only the living could? 

“We got good news. We think this is it. I think if we break the stone inside, it should set you all free. Do you happen to have a hammer or something that could be used as one to break it around here?” Hongjoong asked to which Mingi quickly left and returned with an old hammer. 

_’Hopefully it’ll still work.’_ Hongjoong nodded while taking it and opened the box. As he set it down and took the hammer in hand, Mingi began to speak again. 

_’Thank you. Thank you for not bothering us and trying to help us. If this works, we will forever be in your debt.’_ Mingi smiled along with the other spirits. Even Yeosang seemed to crack a smile at that. 

“I wouldn’t thank us yet.” Hongjoong laughed as he took the hammer and set his aim on the green gem. 

One…

Two…

With a single hit, the gem was shattered onto the ground. Nothing happened though. No smoke. No sudden change in energy. He frowned and turned around towards the ghosts only to see they were gone. Instead, a small note rested on the ground. 

_Thanks again._

_Signed,_  
Song Mingi (1953)  
Jung Wooyoung (1978)  
Choi San (1978)  
Kang Yeosang (2011) 

Each year written was the year they died. Hongjoong smiled, showing the piece of paper to the group. 

“We did it. They are finally resting.” The boy grinned and saw how the other’s smiled at the note, some of them trying not to tear up. 

They had packed everything back up and gotten into the car not too long after. It was a very short trip, but they obviously had no more reason to go there. Hongjoong called the land owner once they were outside. 

“Did you already get something?” He asked. 

“Quite the opposite. We didn’t get any activity. I don’t believe the place is haunted anymore sir.” He knew that for a fact, but he didn’t want to tell him how he knew. Hongjoong talked for a little longer, looking at the recorders and one by one deleting anything on them. ATEEZ wanted those spirits to rest. There was no need to keep their recordings. Not that the spirits really talked to them anyways. The only recording they really got was Yeosang and Mingi. Their stories were sad. They had also realized that Mingi took his reason for killing himself to the grave. They still didn’t know why he did it, but they knew the reason for the other’s. Perhaps it was better that way. 

Everyone got in the car and buckled up. Hongjoong was going to start it until he looked over to see the blonde’s splotchy face, tear tracks running down his cheeks. 

“Do you really think they’re at peace now?” He mumbled, looking over to Hongjoong with glossy eyes. All he did was smile and reach over to hold the elder's hand. 

“I know they are… Let’s go. I think we should eat somewhere good tonight. Don’t you agree?” He turned to the others in the van with a grin as they head out from the mansion. No more was it active. It no longer had residence. It was just another building with a sad history that will never be forgotten. Those boys will always be in their hearts. Hongjoong knew it.


End file.
